Spray products having a trigger are known. Trigger sprayers utilize a handheld container, typically depending from a manual pump or pressurized container. The container may hold any composition desired to be sprayed in a stream, fine droplets, foam or mist. The composition may comprise an air freshener, fabric refresher, hair spray, cleanser, etc.
The pump or valve stem of an aerosol sprayer is activated by an articulating trigger. The user squeezes the trigger with his or her hand, typically retracting the trigger from a forward resting position to a rearward dispensing position. The motion of the trigger causes the composition to be dispensed from the container and sprayed out of a nozzle.
The characteristics of the spray, e.g. stream, droplets, mist, are determined by several parameters and operating characteristics of the pump. For example, the nozzle geometry, piston bore, piston stroke and pump efficiency will all affect the spray characteristics.
The situation is complicated if a pump designed for one particular composition is used with a different composition. The composition rheology, surface tension, etc. also affect the spray characteristics.
The situation is further complicated by user operation. The pump may be designed and intended to be used with full trigger strokes, each stroke dispensing a full volume of the piston displacement at a particular stroke speed. However, the user may not always, or ever, operate the trigger in the intended manner.
If the piston bore is too large, the force necessary to achieve proper trigger stroke may be too great for a particular user. If the piston stroke is too long or if the trigger articulation is too long, the user may not pull the trigger for the entire intended path length. If the user's hand is too small or too large, the user may not operate the trigger as intended. The user may operate the trigger slower or faster than intended. The user's hand may fatigue and operation may change in the middle of a particular usage and even mid-stroke.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a spray actuator and spray product that are ergonomically designed for a range of users.